Martin Kadlečík was kind of busy in 2022. He made his debut in the Twingo Cup and at the end of the season he switched to the faster Renault Clio and finished fourth and fifth in Brno. And at the end of October he raced on simulator at the FIA Motorsport Games in France at Paul Ricard, where he achieved a fantastic result in the Esport category and proudly represented the Czech Republic. He also received a special award for his performance at the ESET Cup prize giving ceremony.
You got the offer to start in the FIA Motorsport Games quite late. How many days until the start and were you immediately determined to go or did you hesitate?
I received the offer about 14 days before the event itself. However, I did not hesitate for a moment, in my opinion, such an offer cannot be refused, as it might not happen again in the future. After all, representing the country is different from driving a simulator at home.
You didn’t have much time to prepare. How did you spend your time after accepting the offer and until you left for France?
Since I raced in the iRacing simulator a week before France, I only started preparing for the race after that. However, the preparation was not easy as FIA Motorsport Games runs on the Assetto Corsa Competizione simulator and it is not easy to get a competitive car setup, so I spent a lot of time clicking and learning about the setup changes.
Almost sixty competitors were registered in the Esport category. What result were you expecting?
My only goal was to advance to the finals, but I knew that nothing was going to be easy, since the best driverrs from every country participated in the competition…
You eventually progressed to the finals. How did you feel going through the elimination rounds?
At the beginning it took me a while to get used to the equipment I was driving, but in the quarter final I managed to fine-tune the steering wheel and from then on I had good speed. I tried not to take unnecessary risks, I wanted to save it for the final.
In the final, you started from the front row, but there was a collision in the first corner. What happened?
Unfortunately, the outside lane is bad into the first corner and when the Dutchman Harteveld, who started from third position, got next to me, he didn’t give me much room in the second corner and I was forced to go over the inside kerb, which unsettled my car and the Brazilian Rodrigues hit me from behind… We both went off the track and it was hard to get back.
In the end, you finished in a great fifth place. How do you evaluate your performance at the FIA Motorsport Games and how do you like such an event?
I still enjoyed the final, I managed a few good overtaking manoeuvres and had a nice race with the guys. It’s a shame that there was a collision in the first lap, I think the podium was realistic. The event was perfect from my side, there was always something to watch between the races and the combination of real racing with esports was a great addition to the whole event.
When were you more nervous? At the start of a real race in a real car, or at the start of the final international esport race?
It is difficult to find an answer to such a question… After all, in real racing there is much more at stake and everyone drives more cautiously, on the contrary, in the simulator you drive at full speed from start to finish. However, I have to admit that it’s very similar – being nervous, especially when you’re representing a country and people are watching you.
Will this experience bring you something in your racing career? Can you learn something in esports and use it in the real racing world?
Esports racing is one of the best ways to prepare for real races and I think they are getting closer and closer to reality. It helps, for example, with stress and an overview of what is happening around you. After all, I used the experience from the real Twingo Cup races, where something is always happening.
Maybe it’s still early, maybe not, but are you already making plans for next season?
We have not decided yet, I liked the Clio Cup races in Brno, but the car is more financially demanding and it is not certain that we will show up with it at the races next year.
